FINAL REPORT.  Thanks everyone who sent these in!

Where did you vote (City/State):

Somerville, MA
 

What time of day:

11/4/08 7 AM
 

What were the conditions like?

Fire station. Very busy. Line went about a block and a half up the street the whole time I was there. Very orderly. It took me 30 minutes to get in. Another 15 to vote and get out. I saw only one woman leave without voting (she had picked the wrong polling station and waited 30 minutes and then found out she was in the wrong place and had to go up the street to the correct place). A couple people were asked to remove or cover up candidate-specific T-shirts or pins before entering the facility. There was a photographer. People were in good spirits. There was a starbucks down the street honoring their “free coffee if you vote” campaign – the line at Starbucks was quite long as well (I skipped it). The people were very friendly. We spent a lot of time discussing the automated call from the fire department that was accidentally forwarded to every phone in the city at 3:45am today.
 

What kind of voting machines?

I had to use a marker on a paper ballot and then there was the little machine that reads it.
 

Did you see any voter challenges?

No issues. I mentioned the one woman and her problem above.
 

If you voted absentee, how did that work out?

Nope. My little sister voted early in Oregon. She said it was good.
 

Anything else you want to add?

n/a

Thanks for the report, Rich!

My coworker Tim sent in the following report from Salem, NH:

Where did you vote (City/State):

Salem, NH
 

What time of day:

11/4/08 12:15 PM
 

What were the conditions like?

Steady stream, with a minimal wait in line – about 2 minutes. Poll workers talked about lengthy lines first thing this morning, and the expectation of lengthy lines this evening. Voters in Salem vote at the 6 elementary schools in town. Staff for the most part were the old timers who have been doing this for more than 30 years.
 

What kind of voting machines?

Our paper ballots and markers seemed to work just fine, and the optical scanner seemed to suck in the ballots just fine.
 

Did you see any voter challenges?

No voter challenges. NH has a same day registration law, so anyone can register to vote by producing appropriate documentation.
 

If you voted absentee, how did that work out?

n/a
 

Anything else you want to add?

I noticed a number of high school and college students voting. I picked my son up in Boston and then headed to Salem so that he could vote in his first presidential election, and he ran in to a number of his buddies. Three of them were actually on the ballot, running for state representative – a fact which made him feel old.

Thanks very much, Tim.

My coworker Wayne sent in the following report from Sudbury, MA:

Where did you vote (City/State):

Sudbury MA town hall
 

What time of day:

11/4/08 7 AM
 

What were the conditions like?

My wife and I got there at 6:15 AM and were first in line for the 7 AM opening. We completed our voting in under 5 minutes. The staff members were polite and friendly. The experience was entirely positive, pleasant in every respect. When we left at around 7:05 there were about 150 people waiting in line to vote.

Thank you kindly, Wayne.

My friend Dave sent in the following report from Leominster, MA:

Where did you vote (City/State):

Leominster, MA
 

What time of day:

11/4/08 10 AM
 

What were the conditions like?

no line, 4-5 voters present, no problems

Thanks Dave!

My flickr friend Scot sent in the following report from West Bloomfield, MI:

Where did you vote (City/State):

West Bloomfield, Michigan. (Not absentee)
 

What time of day:

11/4/08 (for sure) 17:45 EST
 

What were the conditions like?

My newer voting precinct is in a new (new for me at least) middle school. Elections are held in a gymnasium. There were very many election workers and I believe I overheard them say that there were 11 voting booths/partitioned tables. One worker had said that they were a bit busy around lunch, but for the most part had been steady, but not behind all day. It took me longer to fill out my ballot than to sign in and receive it. There were about 8-10 people voting at the same time as I was. If you could call it a line, it was only one to three people long. It was well-organized and professional, but I found the workers a bit cold, especially for Americans.
 

What kind of voting machines?

We were given ballots with bic pens to fill out. Then you slide the ballot in a type of strong box that sucks it in like an ATM card. There was an electronic counter on the top of the box and a worker told me to make sure that when I slid my ballot in, that the number went up by one; it did.
 

Did you see any voter challenges?

No.
 

If you voted absentee, how did that work out?

n/a
 

Anything else you want to add?

Not this time, but the last time I voted against W. Bush, I mentioned that I had come to vote against the Republicans while waiting in line The election workers didn’t like that and told me I am not supposed to say anything political within 50 feet (or something like that) of the polls. I mentioned the First Amendment, but it pretty much stopped there. No wonder I got kicked out of school so much.

Thank you Scot!

Okay a lot has happened since I last posted. First, the Associated Press has called North Carolina for Obama.

President-elect Obama adds victory in North Carolina to White House win (Associated Press):
…The Associated Press declared Obama the winner after canvassing counties in North Carolina to determine the number of outstanding provisional ballots. That survey found that there are not enough remaining ballots for Republican John McCain to close a 13,693-vote deficit…

CNN still hasn't called North Carolina as evidenced by their electoral map.

So according to the AP Obama's EV total is 364, and according to CNN it is 349.

Still no clear result from Missouri. Right now McCain has 1,442,673 votes to Obama's 1,436,814 votes giving McCain a razor thin lead of 5,859 votes. But apparently they are still processing provisional ballots there, so there is an outside chance that Obama may still carry the state (although the Kansas City Star clearly doesn't think so!)

Missouri loses its bragging rights by bucking its own trend (Kansas City Star):
…Unofficial results Wednesday showed John McCain with a 5,868-vote margin in the state — a lead that could narrow as final results are tallied and some 7,000 provisional ballots are examined.

Few observers, though, think the outcome will change. Expect Missouri’s 11 electoral votes go to the Republican amid a national landslide for Barack Obama…

Interestingly, the Omaha World Herald is saying Obama may have won another electoral vote from Nebraska's 2nd District. If Obama has the lead there, Nebraska will split its electoral votes, which would move one EV from the McCain column into the Obama column giving him 365 EV's:

Obama's odds of getting Nebraska electoral vote increase (Omaha World Herald):
…Obama won about 61 percent of the early votes counted before Tuesday's election. If that percentage holds with the early ballots left to count, Obama stands a strong chance of winning the Omaha-area 2nd Congressional District.

Republicans did not concede defeat Thursday, but they acknowledged the long odds.

John McCain held a 569-vote lead over Obama in the 2nd District at the end of Tuesday…

In the senate races, 3 seats are still in play, but the race in Oregon has been decided with the seat going to the democrat Jeff Merkley according to The Oregonian. This gives the Democrats 57 seats in the Senate.

The Coleman vs Franken race in Minnesota is being recounted, and the current results shows a spread of only 236 votes. Talk about close! The Associated Press is quoting one expert saying the race is almost certainly going to be decided in court:

Litigation in waiting: Recount could be just the start in deciding Minn. Senate winner (Associated Press):
…After a recount, the candidates or any eligible voter can head to court to challenge how the election was conducted or the votes were tallied. The Minnesota law spelling out the contest raises the possibility of Senate involvement.

“I don't think there is any possibility it will be simply a recount,” said Hamline University law professor Joseph Daly. “It is destined for the courthouse and ultimately it is destined for the United States Senate based on this law. There's too much at stake. There's too much vitriol.”…

The Georgia senate race is still undecided. Saxby Chambliss has the lead, but under Georgia law he must achieve 50% + 1 votes or the election will immediately go to a runoff. As of yet he isn't there, and Georgia's Fulton County is still not finished counting absentee and provisional ballots according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The candidates have no choice but to start campaigning now on the chance that a runoff will be necessary:

Ballot-counting marathon stretches in Fulton (Atlanta Journal-Constitution):
…By early evening, officials had more than 100 ballots left to count, out of about 31,000 total absentee ballots. They could not estimate when the work would finish. Even when that’s done, workers must still count hundreds of provisional ballots…

…Democratic challenger Jim Martin and Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss have begun their campaigns, even though a runoff is not yet certain. The approximate 147,000 votes cast on voting machines during early voting in Fulton have been counted already, county officials said…

…Secretary of State Karen Handel has threatened to report the county’s election operation to the state Election Board for releasing workers before their work was done…

…”Fulton County should have had proper staffing and procedures in place,” [Handel’s spokesman] said. “They knew how many ballots had been issued and should have known how many had been returned up until Election Day,” he said.

The Office of Inspector General will conduct a thorough investigation of Fulton County’s activities…

Counting continues in Alaska but at present incumbent Ted Stevens holds the lead by about 4,000 votes… despite being a convicted felon. Chatter on the net is saying Alaskans may have voted to keep the seat red. Even if Ted resigns or is tossed out of office, it would be up to the Governor (Sarah Palin) to appoint someone to the seat… and she may just decide to appoint herself:

Is Sarah Palin Nipping at Ted Stevens' Heels? (The Washington Post):
…Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this week that even if Stevens wins his race, he shouldn't expect to keep his job on Capitol Hill. “The reality is that a convicted felon is not going to be able to serve in the United States Senate,” Reid said. “And as precedent shows us, Senator Stevens will face an ethics committee investigation and expulsion, regardless of his appeals process.”

And what might happen if his colleagues do kick Stevens out of the Senate, prompting a special election? Who might be in line to replace him? Hint: lipstick; $150,000 wardrobe. Yep, you betcha! Sarah Palin…

In other news, Harry Reid and Joe Lieberman had a meeting today. Some in the Democratic party have been calling for Lieberman to be expelled from the party for his vocal support of John McCain. It doesn't seem likely that will happen, but doubtless some action will be taken. CQ Politics has the story.

Lieberman’s Future Undecided After Meeting With Reid (CQ Politics):
…While I understand that Senator Lieberman has voted with Democrats a majority of the time, his comments and actions have raised serious concerns among many in our caucus, Reid said in a statement following the meeting.

“I expect there to be additional discussions in the days to come, and Senator Lieberman and I will speak to our caucus in two weeks to discuss further steps,” he said…